A: "That they are nonsense."

Despite the public's general inclination to support an invasion of Iraq, the new poll confirms what has been evident since the beginning of this debate: public support for attacking Iraq is dependent on the particulars of the issue. Specifically, about half of Americans say their views on an invasion of Iraq could be affected by the outcome of the U.N. inspections. Thirty-one percent say they favor an invasion regardless of the outcome of the inspections, and 14% oppose an invasion no matter what the inspections
reveal. That leaves 55% of Americans who still have not made up their minds on Iraq, including 21% who provisionally favor an invasion, 29% who provisionally oppose it, and 5% who have no opinion either way." The Folks @ Gallup

The reaction to 9/11 is beyond anything Osama bin Laden could have hoped for in his nastiest dreams. As in McCarthy times, the freedoms that have made America the envy of the world are being systematically eroded. The combination of compliant US media and vested corporate interests is once more ensuring that a debate that should be ringing out in every town square is confined to the loftier columns of the East Coast press." The Times of London. 

Burke's conclusion is based upon the work of amateur historian and attorney Dick Bales. After comparing land records from 1871 with Peg Leg's testimony at a post holocaust hearing (he told investigators he was the first on the fire scene and, after trying to save the animals in the O'Leary barn, ran for help), Bales theorized Sullivan could not, as he had testified, have been sitting two houses down when he initially spotted the blaze - another house would have blocked his view. Nor, Bales contends, could a man with a wooden leg have hobbled the 193 feet to the O'Leary barn in the short time he said he had. These inconsistencies led Bales to conclude that Peg Leg had actually started the fire himself, perhaps while feeding his own family cow on the O'Leary's hay, and lied to cover it up. 

An overly ambitious conclusion we think. 

While we believe Bales did uncovered some truth - specifically, Peg Leg was lying - his motive for lying is another matter. We think it much more likely Louis M. Cohn was not lying when he said he and the O'Leary kids were playing craps in the barn at the time, as they often did. Peg Leg likely was a regular.

We chuckled out loud at hearing Joseph Medill, one of the founders of the Republican Party and the dominant partner in the Tribune, openly advocated killing off the underclasses. He apparently changed his mind the morning after the 1871 fire leveled most of the city. Medill borrowed a new press to publish the headline, "Cheer Up Chicago, We will rise again." Perhaps he realized he needed labor. 

Part 2 airs tonight, 3 on Wednesday, the day, it seems, based on what we discern form Hoyt's story structure, will be the day he should have mentioned Louis M. Cohn, as we offered yesterday below.

Tonight on PBS' American Experience,  a 3-part documentary called "Chicago: City of the Century" debuts. When we first heard of the project in October '02, we called the program's WGBH production staff, wanting to make sure they knew of Cohn's long-ignored confession, as reported in two Chicago Tribune features we wrote. You can't do a documentary about Chicago without covering the fire, and we wanted a very credible Mr. Cohn, who said in effect, "I was there. I did it," on the record of TV's most watched history series. 

So, we sent WGBH a link to our Trib articles, which turned out being an eye-opener for Austin Hoyt, who is credited as the program's director, writer and producer, because he never heard of Cohn before. "Admittedly, it was sloppy research," he said. But "it's in the can. I don't see how we can do anything" now, Hoyt explained. 

Sorry Louie. We tried.

Almost as a footnote, the document also directed the Pentagon to begin planning military options for an invasion of Iraq, senior administration officials said." Washington Post

But in the process he has created a rift so intense between high-ranking Pentagon civilians and senior officers that it threatens to slow military reform." LA Times

An Associated Press photograph of Mohammed Asghar taken at his shop in Lahore on Wednesday was a near-perfect match for the one included on the FBI list under the name Mustafa Khan Owasi, down to the prominent mole on Asghar's left cheek. 

Asghar, 30, told AP that he was surprised to open a local newspaper and see his picture with another man's name beneath it." AP